Weekend Open Thread: Celeb Sightings

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Yesterday Jackson and I saw Maggie Gyllenhaal at our neighborhood coffee shop with her one-month-old baby girl. She was very pretty in person and seemed quite sweet, and there wasn’t an air of pretense about her at all. It was a total opposite experience from the time I saw Kate Hudson, who’s a real see-you-next-Tuesday, in a coffee shop with her son, and she expected everyone to bow at her feet. That was during my three-month, once-a-week-stint as a barista, and I waited on her and she didn’t even leave me a tip on her $20 bill. She also left her garbage all over the place, and she spent the half hour she was there dancing around the coffee shop demanding everyone to pay attention to her, because, you know, I’m sure she, as a movie star walking the street among us mere mortals, doesn’t already get enough attention.

Anyway, have you met/seen any famous people? There are a lot more I’ve seen — living in New York, you get pretty used to celeb-sightings (although there are far fewer in Brooklyn than in Manhattan!) — but I’m too lazy to try to remember all of them right now. A few highlights: back in our old neighborhood, Obama rode right past me and Drew on his way to Letterman a few years ago (he actually waved right at us!); we saw the Rolling Stones exit a movie theatre with Martin Scorcese as we happened to be walking by. Back at my coffee shop job, I also waited on Jeremy Sisto (hot, good tipper), Mary-Louise Parker (pretty, also a good tipper), and Paul Thomas Anderson (intense eyes), among others. I saw John Krasinski walking down the street once and I followed him for, like, three blocks before I felt too ashamed to continue the stalking.

What about you? Any celeb sightings? Who’s on your sighting wish list?

* If you’ve got a suggestion for a future open thread topic, email me at [email protected]

My one and only celeb sighting was a few weeks ago at the Ottawa airport. I was standing in line to board my flight to Toronto and the man I was standing next to looked SO familiar, but it took me a minute to figure out where I knew him from… it was Frankie Edgar the UFC fighter and I had watched him fight just a week or two before. We were standing elbow to elbow and he looked me right in the eye, I guess he was wondering why I was looking at him funny.

He connected to a US flight once we got to Toronto, so the only thing I’m wondering is what the hell he was doing in boring old Ottawa? Nobody important ever comes to Ottawa. And we’ll definitely never get UFC here…

Anyway, not many celebs to spot up here in Canada so that was a rather exciting experience for me!

OH also! This one is kind of mean, but Elizabeth Berkley came up to me in Soho and asked me how for directions and as she was walking away, I realized I had given her the exact opposite directions but I didn’t do anything about it. SORRY NOMI!

I had a run in with Peter Cris, the drummer for kiss. We were at a Sushi restaurant in Nashville. He was in line behind is. I was helping the hostess get names of people in line for some reason. Long story short, I had no idea who he was, though he tried to make it obvious, gave me his whole name and mentioned Gene. But I assumed “Jean” was his girlfriend. He kept talking about his band and an album coming out. Like NO ONE in Nashville thinks they are a musician. After we sat, my husband told me who it was and we got a laugh. BUT, when we left, he left at the same time. He yells across the parking lit, “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the drummer for Kiss” my response? ” Good luck with that!” Need attention much dude?

Hee, the same year my roomate ran into him at a bar in Tucson, and he gave her a li’l smooch (in response to a request from her friends). He was super sweet about it, and it made her year (she had the Swingers poster up in her room for ages).

Also, probably about 10 years ago, I saw Hillary Clinton outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC and her hair was this really bright vibrant blond color. Her makeup was really heavy too. She seems to have gone more natural lately.

I’m terrible at celeb sightings! I never recognize anybody, but one time I was with a friend who thought he saw Ethan Hawke walking (in Manhattan)?

I have done some background acting work, but I don’t know if that counts because they don’t let the extras talk to the actors (I’ve been in the same room as Blake Lively and the guy who plays Chuck Bass, though. And Bobby Cannavale. The girl next to me introduced herself when she was standing by him, & he was very nice)

Best I’ve got is I helped Brad Garrett (tall brother from Everybody Loves Raymond) back when I worked at the Coffee Bean when I was in college. He was very nice and yes, incredibly tall. Oh!! I almost forgot…Mitch Pileggi (Skinner-the boss-from X Files) shopped at the grocery store I worked at in high school. The nerd in me thought that was so very cool at the time. I don’t remember much about him other I thought he seemed a bit…odd. Maybe he was just quiet/shy.

Hugh Jackman at a restaurant. I was outside on a smoke break from eating dinner/having drinks at a place called Tao and, believe it or not, I noticed his wife before him, thanks to a People magazine obsession. He brushed up against me to open the door for her and their kid. When I went inside, he was sitting right next to us. Awesome. Super friendly, super normal family guy. And seriously hard to believe any real person can be that hot. I don’t think he’s ever needed photoshop.

Billy Crystal’s son used to play basketball against my elementary school team, so met him a bunch.

The son from Sopranos lived next door to my brother in the city. He used to play poker with us. Cool guy.

My friend used to date the daughter of the therapist from Sopranos. She was weird.

Rosie O’Donnell several times. She cheered on my daughter when she won a hula hoop contest. Pretty cool.

Gavin DeGraw. Awesome, awesome, awesome. The absolute most down to earth guy ever. He invited me and my sisters backstage after a concert. Fun!

Michelle Branch. My gf and I were huge fans at one point and we got to hang with her after a concert of hers. My friend hooked up with her bandmate.

Sat next to Donald Trump at a Andrea Boccelli concert, which was an awesome show that I lucked out getting great tickets to.

Wow, I didn’t realize I’ve met as many as I listed. I’m practically famous guys 😉

Oh I forgot my favorite!!!
I was a concert where a ton of bands were playing. I went to see STP, but liked the others. The last band to play was Jane’s Addiction (awesome show, btw). A few minutes into their set, someone passes a joint to me from the row behind me. It was the guy who was plastered all over my bedroom at the time…Scott Weiland. Yes. I smoked a joint with Scott Weiland. Coolest. Day. Ever.

Seriously, it was amazing. We had the worst seats too. It was an outdoor arena and I guess he wanted the “fan” view. I tried so hard to play it cool and not just lick his face or something. A stunning, stunning man.

Oh yea, I almost ran over Johnny Sack once (if anyone watched that show). I was backing out of a spot and my car tapped his leg. I hop out all hysterical, thinking I almost killed him, apologizing like crazy and then realized who it was and blurt out OMG You’re Johnny Sack! He laughed a little.

I saw Obama back when I lived in a small city in Georgia. My friends and I knew he was coming and skipped our classes for the day. It was basically a college town and hardly anyone went to class that day because they were all too busy stalking him, haha.

I’ve also met Ringo Starr several times because I used to be very good friends with his niece.

I’m surprised I never saw anyone famous while living in NY–probably because I lived in Brooklyn.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Mitt Romney used to be my neighbor, way before he was even governor of Massachusetts, so I met him a lot, and had no idea he would ever be running for President years later.

Ha ha. No, Maggie G. walked from her apartment, which is a few blocks from mine, with her baby strapped in a baby bjorn, looking like any other brooklyn mom (just a little prettier and taller than most).

You see people all the time in LA… It’s usually a bit of a buzzkill. They are almost always a bit shorter and significantly dumber than you’d ever imagined… Far too many run-ins turn out very much like your Kate Dudson story, Wendy. My, what a talentless hack she is… Seriously, I doubt she could convincingly act dead even if I shot her in the head.

My most interesting sighting ever was Madonna. I’ve seen her three separate times just out and about… The only significant encounter would be the evening we briefly exchanged words at an art house movie theater concession stand regarding the many merits of juju fruit candies… It was beyond surreal because I was so blase’ about it on the outside but totally like blown away (of course!) on the inside… She was very pregnant and very pleasant. I pretended (badly) I had absolutely no idea who she was and I think she was grateful for the pretense… She wound up going to the same movie as me — some subtitled Italian snoozer that I never did quite follow because it was simply wayyyy much more interesting to watch Madonna watch a movie two rows up…

It was cool. The time before that I met a friend for lunch over on Hillhurst and there was some sharply dressed women seated alone at a table across the room with a tape recorder and notepad ready… It was hard not to notice her and wonder what was up?

A few minutes later, Madonna arrived. It would wind up being one of those classic silly Vanity Fair or Vogue interviews…you know, the kind that always open with them carefully setting the scene of the lunch and saying: Madonna walks in looking fabulous, so much so that she glows, everybody in the restaurant can”t help but stare and blah blah blah… Only in this instance, I can confirm it was very indeed much true!! 🙂

Just wanna say, I like this enthusiastic side of bittergaymark! I like the scathing and incisive nature of yr comments, though I don’t always agree with them….its so cool to see the different sides of dw commenters, which is why I love that wendy posts a variety of material for us to respond to! It humanizes the cynics and the gentle sympathizers alike! If I saw madonna id also try to play it cool like I didn’t know her…im sure celebs appreciate the folks who let them be anonymous, even when they can see right through it!

I met Mark Curry (Hanging with Mr. Cooper) when he visited my elementary school at the height of his show’s popularity. I was in the 5th or 6th grade at the time and it was a pretty big deal for our little elementary school (he was an alumnus of both my elementary and high school). I just remember my friends screaming and grabbing my arms and shaking and crying when he came over to shake our hands. He was very gracious and he used to hold (maybe he still does?) Fourth of July block parties in that neighborhood.

Gabriel Byrne literally ran into me once on 5th Ave. in Manhattan. He was walking and talking on his phone, and as I passed him after we said our apologies I did a double take as my friend went “wasn’t that Gabriel Byrne?!” and my double take led me to accidentally get in his face, so he gave me a super weird look.

I was in L.A. a few years ago and didn’t see any celebrities and was all “wait, I thought they were everywhere in L.A!” so imagine my delight when I was doing the whole Rodeo Drive thing and saw Swoosie Kurtz coming out of a Dr’s office (which may or may not have been a plastic surgeon’s office). She was TINY!!! I still would have preferred to run into a hot male actor (anyone but Brad Pitt though, I may be the only woman alive who can’t stand him) but at least I saw one celebrity!

I don’t know if this counts because I was AT her show, but Rosie O’Donnell yelled at me and made me cry once. I was 12 and in the audience for her talk show, and all kids under 16 got a chance to get an autographed picture of her. I was waiting in a line going down steps to get to her and I think I was 2nd or 3rd in line. She’s signing someone else’s photo, and clumsy me trips down the step and bumps into the kid in front of me. Rosie stopped what she was doing and snapped at me “Hey! Wait your turn! Don’t be a brat!” and called me out in front of the entire audience. When I tearfully was like “I tripped!” she dismissed me and was like “uh huh, sure”. For a woman who was always talking about how much she loved kids, she wasn’t very nice to me.

Right? I was mortified and just so sad because she always did seem really awesome towards kids. She was probably just having a bad day, and she probably didn’t see me trip and only saw the kid in front of me jostle because I fell into him, but wouldn’t you think the tears would tip her off that she had yelled for no reason?

Ahhh! I totally forgot the best ones! My brother’s childhood best friends were both in families with “celebrities” and I was asked to babysit. Joe Cross is one of them (he was in the movies “Jack Frost” “Running With Scissors” and some Diane Lane movie where he was the bad guy) and then Joe Klein, the guy who wrote Primary Colors. His son was one of my brother’s best friends, and I became friendly with his daughter who was closer to my age.

Oh god I love this – I’m a celebrity whore – I live for sightings. Besides meeting Wendy, I had coffee with Dar Williams. (I saw her in concert and afterward when she was signing shit, i purposefully waited at the end and invited her to come have coffee with me, and she obliged! We chit chatted over coffee for an hour – it was AWESOME. I was in law school at the time.) Let’s see, in Chicago I’ve seen Mel Gibson, Oliver Stone, Brad Garrett, Guilana Rancic (I see her a lot at my gym – she looks like an alien – I’m sure she’s nice, I’m just saying). I’ve had my picture taken with Hilary Clinton and Mel Carnahan (former governor of MO). … And that may be it. I’m sure I’m forgetting about someone. But I’m blanking. I saw a limo that may have been carrying Brad Pitt. That’s pretty cool, eh?

Oh and Oprah. I used to see her at my gym. She used to go really early in the morning, with a trainer. Things about her that I noticed: she’s taller than I thought – taller than me. (I’m 5’6″). She has a really, really, really big head. And she moves so slow. Like, it looks like she is walking in slow motion from machine to machine. I also was in the audience of an Oprah show once — a friend used to work for her — and she was really sluggish there too when the camera wasn’t rolling. It was weird – like, ridiculously slow/sluggish/delirious/out of it. Not what I was expecting from the otherwise powerful O.

so, it was a bright and sunny afternoon in lincoln square, when all of a sudden i spotted blago and his lego hair crossing lincoln avenue like it was no big deal… but it was a huge deal! i mean, it was blago! and he looks like a cartoon character walking down a real street – what the heck? so of course i stared at him but he was staring at me too. and we kept staring at each other until we crossed the street. then i realized we were both standing there, staring at each other… awkward! …. it was so awkward. but i didn’t know what to do? it was so intense. WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO?! I’M JUST STARING AT HIM! Finally i flashed him a thumb-up. And he cocked his head back and laughed and gave me a thumb-up back. It was kind of a sobering moment because then I realized, “ok, now not only am I standing here string at Blago, but we’re staring at each other with our thumbs up.” And then realizing Patty was standing right there made it all so awkward that I just darted down the street ….

You know, I should embellish the story a bit and add in that we started stripping or something.

My chicago celeb sightings: Dave Matthews (he flirted with me when I was working at a flower shop next door to the hotel where he was staying); that guy who played the principal in Boston Public; Oh, and now I’m blanking.

Oh! Jennifer Hudson. Right after she won the Oscar — like a week later — she was standing in line in front of me at a book shop at the airport with an armful of magazines that all had her on the cover.

I’m jealous that Dave flirted with you. I’m a HUGE DMB fan, and he and I made eye contact on the way to a concert once when his tour bus pulled up next to my car on the way into the venue. I hyperventelated, then cried, then called my mom!

Oh my, SO MANY – it’s true, living in New York City dose offer a crazy amount of celebrity sightings, and working in the sound engineering industry (with a recording studio upstairs) means that I see a lot of famous people. Though, it still gets me all worked up when I see them! Still not jaded, even after it being over 4 years! (Hell, I get excited when I see news anchors out and about!)

Let’s see… CeeLo Green asked me how to get upstairs, and so did Jada Pinkett Smith. I’ve been in the elevator and talked with both Ludacris and Pharell (Ludacris told me what the weather forecast would be for the next day and he was really wrong – both of them were very nice) I’ve seen LL Cool J., Wyclef Jean, Will Smith, but the worst one was running into Busta Rhymes. He was standing way too close to the elevator doors and when I walked out of the elevator, I ran right into him! He didn’t even move, just lifted his arm up for me to get under, so I did this weird, hugging thing, trying to snake around him and get out. After the 3rd or 4th time of running into him like that, with him not letting people off the elevator before he crowded the doors, I actually said “Man, we have got to stop meeting like this!” and laughed nervously – while he just stared at me. Super weird and so embarrassing!

I accidentally walked onto the set of Date Night (with Tina Fey and Steve Carell) and ruined one of their shots. I actually ran INTO Lea Michelle as she was skipping (yes, skipping) down the sidewalk in a silk evening gown. Madonna lives across the street from my boyfriend’s apartment, and though I haven’t seen her, her daughter, Lourdes, came out one day and bought some cupcakes from these little girls having a bake sale outside of their building, I thought that was sweet.

Um… I saw Kiernan Shipka (Sally from MadMen) walking with her mother in Times Square – she was the first one I actually wanted to say hello to because I think she is SUPER talented, but she’s still a kid so I thought it would be weird.

I saw one of the Real Housewives coming out of a spin class one day with a whole team of security escorting her into a huge, bullet-proof van. Seriously unnecessarily protected.

The best ones though, two friends – one girl (more of an ‘acquaintance’ than a friend) had a very risqué evening with Peter Facinelli, approximately 2 weeks before his divorce from Jennie Garth was announced.. eek! And another girl had sex with Jason Segel and it was apparently VERY WEIRD.

What constitutes “very weird”? Like, awkward weird, or kinky weird? I knew a girl 10 years ago who claimed to have had kinky weird sex with a now deceased celebrity, but I’m not sure how much I believe her story.

Back in the early 90s my mom and aunt were in Chicago and LL Cool J was having a birthday party at their hotel. My dad and uncle were super awesome and decided to take the kids (my older cousins very likely helped greatly – I was under five for sure) and pay for them to par-tay. They were coming in from dinner and drinks out and there were limo lined up everywhere and LL himself invited them to come to the party because they were both bangin’. My mom was like, “I figured he was famous because of all the limos and knew he was good looking … so we went back to our rooms to change and then partied.”

My fiance is a huge fan of his, too and was way more excited about this story than I was. I think he may have proposed to me because I look quite like my mom and there’s a 1/100000 chance I’ll run into LL and be able to introduce them after I get invited to some sort of swanky party.

So jealous of everyone running into celebrities. I´ve only ever seen local ones.
My sister is a flight attendant and she´s flown with/met quite a lot of celebrities, one of the most recent was Orlando Bloom (drool), she even got to see him wake up, and serve him breakfast!

Great idea!
Off the top of my head…Ryan Gosling (I know, so obvious, but he’s so yummy), Jesse Williams, Jason George (I know, I watch too much Grey’s Anatomy), Ty Burrell (he’s so funny!) and Eric Bana.

Haha, 3 of my 5 were in The Avengers (and they were on the list way before the movie, so when I saw the announced cast I threatened to break up with my now husband if he didn’t take me to see it)
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Evans
Chris Pine
Robert Downey Jr.
and of course Ryan Gosling, who I had a crush on way back in the Mickey Mouse Club days, and watched Breaker High and Young Hercules, so that’s a good..what, 15-20 years of a crush on him? I’m SOOO glad his career is as amazing as it is now! Good for him! And I’m excited he’s dating Eva Mendes, because if I was a dude or a lesbian, she’d be on my list!

I also have a ringer spot for Josh Hutcherson (gosh darn, that jawline!) but I feel really icky about it because I’m 9 years older than he is.

OMG, Grey’s had me so angry last night!!! (and I just realized I’m commenting on this thread A LOT. Sorry about that everyone, I have nothing else to do and am sitting waiting for 5:30 to roll around so I can peace out of here!)

Love this game! Ok, my list is constantly changing, and of course, because I’m single, I am not limited to any list and can have sex with any and all celebs (I mean, I may have to drug them, but still)…. and I know my list is going to be a little weird, but here goes:

Ack, how could I forget, I met Bill Clinton once…and yes, even though I was in my late teens, he has this charisma and charm about him that makes your knees buckle! You are totally drawn to him and can’t take your eyes off of him.

George Clooney should be automatic…like, he doesn’t need to be on the list because every man in the world should okay that one for their woman 😛

I also forgot about the time I ran into Derek Jeter at a bar. I was with my boyfriend at the time and his friends. I went to go get drinks at the bar and somehow, DJ is right next to me. We strike up a conversation and he was really nice. I go back to my boyfriend (who like me was a huge Yankees fan…and I’m from the Bronx, so no one can say I don’t come by it honestly!) and my boyfriend is like “Was that Derek Jeter?!” “Yes” “Did he flirt with you?” “A little, why?” “WHY AREN’T YOU GOING HOME WITH HIM?!?!” “Um, because I’m YOUR girlfriend?” “NO, NO, GO HOME WITH HIM!” That was HI-larious.

Orlando Bloom has never done it for me… I’m not sure why, but there’s something about his face that I do not find appealing. I also do not find Channing Tatum attractive, but I know why that is – its because his neck is the same width as his head and that freaks me out.

I saw Bret Hart at a local movie theater once when I first moved to Calgary 🙂 i thought that was a pretty cool thing to be able to tell my dad since i used to watch wrestling with him when i was a kid 😀

i think that’s pretty much it lol that i can think of anyway. lots of famous people come to Calgary and area for movies, but not a lot of that action in my print shop lol

My mom worked at a really fancy restaurant in aspen after college… She has such cool stories! She waited on the whole Denver broncos team that year, John Denver, and the treasurer of the united states! He signed a dollar bill for her right under where his signature is printed in the bill. She still has it.. Pretty cool. She used to get tipped like hundreds of dollars from each of her tables… Lol

My only real celebrity siting was Jude Law. I was on the London Tube back in 1999 and he was in a play I had just seen the week before. He sat right across from me and I just stared into those gorgeous blue/green eyes… and then blushed and said nothing. Sigh. I wish I’d at LEAST said something about the play I just saw him in!

ALSO I was playing wiht my baby at a park and Christie Turlington and Ed Burns were there with their kids and Ed was laughing at my son and kept calling him “Big Guy” and he is so tall and gorgeous and Christie is beyond stunning.

I seem to run into a lot of celebs! Downtown NYC is packed full of them!

Let’s see…I saw Elijah Wood at a hardcore metal concert in a tiny bar in Philly about 10 years ago. He was very nice, and gave me an autograph, even thought I was obviously interrupting a date (I was the only person at the show uncool enough to approach him, I embarrassed the crap outta my big sis). When I was an undergrad, I met a bunch of Rockies players who spring trained in Tucson. One of my (19 year old) friends totally made out with Vinny Castilla. Oooh…and for you Phoenicians out there, I got Dan Majerle’s autograph when I was 13, I still have the t-shirt he signed =)

The only one I’ve ever seen in person was Wallace Shawn (the actor that plays Blair Waldorf’s step father on gossip girl) at the LAX airport. Literally bumped into him (we both were looking at something in our hands, lol). He was very nice about it and got a funny look/smile on his face when I gave him that “Hey I’ve seen you on TV” look that was probably on my face.

Here in Ohio we don’t get many celeb sightings but lets see…
I met Dhani Jones (former bengals player and had a show on the travel channel), Marvin Lewis (bengals head coach), and Anthony Munoz (great former bengal) at this auction we go to every year. We met Dhani at the one a couple years ago, and he was back this year. We didn’t talk to him this year, well except for my husband yelling “you the man Dhani” when he was getting his picture taken with a bunch of women.
At the Super Bowl festivities in Indy this year I was nearly run over by someone driving Jessica Simpson and her fiancé around in a golf cart.
And the weirdest one…..does anyone remember that band S Club 7? My sister used to watch their show and like their music. When I was in London on a school trip, I was standing in the hotel lobby talking with another girl on the trip who was a couple years younger than me. This guy came up to us and asked us where our accents were from. I just answered, then all of a sudden the girl I was with gasps and says “oh my god you’re from S Club 7!” I didn’t even know who he was, so it was not a very impressive celeb sighting.

I’ve met so many politicians and athletes that I really couldn’t even begin to name all of them. As for non-political and non-sports celebrities, I’ve seen Winona Ryder at a J.Crew, Emma Stone and Dr. Cornel West at a play, Anna Wintour at another play, Duncan Sheik at an airport and Andrew Lloyd Webber at a restaurant. I was also at the same Starbucks as Neil Patrick Harris and his SO once, although my back was to them so I didn’t see them but my friends did. I was bummed! NPH is the shit. 🙂

I live in Austin and I’ve seen Matthew McConaughey a couple of times at bars, he’s pretty grungy in person, but still beautiful. He was with Kris Kristofferson once. Also, I saw Dennis Quaid with his family at church.

I’ve been to Austin a few times and somehow managed not to see McConaughey. I was at a UT football game once and Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly were there, and everyone started booing Jeter when he was shown on the Godzillatron! Also, and I am slightly ashamed to admit this, I have been to one of Bachelor Brad’s bars, and the only reason I went there is because I knew Bachelor Brad owned it, and I love The Bachelor, and Brad is ridiculously hot even though he’s totally screwed up. Didn’t see Brad at the bar, though.

I met Screech (Saved by the Bell) at Disneyland. He went to a private school in Orange County with some friends of mine. He acted like he was god and was also wearing a Saved by the Bell bomer jacket (It was the 90’s). Yeah my firend and I just laughed at him and yelled something about him him being Screech as we ditched them.
I smoked weed with Jodi Sweetin (Stephine from Full House) she was very nice. After she left the house I was hanging out with, I busted up laughing becasue the whole time all I wanted to say was “How rude!” (her trademark saying on the show) but I did not because she was so nice and cool.
Matthew Lilard (Hackers & Shaggy from Scooby-Doo) at my church on Christmas Eve. So cute! However I refused to let the people I was with bug him since it was Christmas Eve and he was in some random church in Orange County with what looked like his family (like mom and dad etc)
Ran into Bob Miller (Kings Hockey) in Las Vegas and made my husband show him his Kings Tattoo.
My sister has seen both Jodi Foster at the Grove & Michelle Pfier, she said Michelle Pfier is tiny tiny tiny and absolutly beautiful.

Ooh, this is a great thread!
1. In high school I danced with Dianna Agron, who is now Quinn on Glee. She was a couple of years younger than me but we were really good friends. (Sadly we didn’t keep in touch.) It’s funny, I look back at old performance photos, or photos from my 16th birthday party, and there she is, and now she’s on tv!
2. I met Lars Ulrich (drummer from Metallica) on an airplane. We were both waiting for the restrooms. He was with his family, and was totally down to earth.
3. I was on the same airplane as Andrea Bocelli. I didn’t speak to him, and he was way at the front of the plane, but in the lounge pre-flight he was a table away from me.
4. I met Jackie Speier, who is one of my state’s Representatives in Congress. She graduated from the same high school as I did, and was in the CA state Senate when I was in high school. She came to talk to my senior class about her life (It’s very interesting- she survived the Jonestown massacre when she was a congressional aide in 1978) and give us words of wisdom as young women. (It was an all-girls’ school btw.)

Oh, and I met Willie Brown (former mayor of SF) coming out of the Met in NYC. And then again, last year around Chrismas in the men’s department here at Bloomingdale’s. He bought a huge stack of cashmere Ralph Lauren sweaters. No idea who they were all for. We (and the clerks) chatted/joked about city politics. (Well, I mostly stood there and smiled, actually. The clerks were talking to him mostly and I was just standing at the counter next to him.)

Oops, one more (last one I swear)- I have met the former director of Operations for Google (he was a mentor to Page and Brin when they were in college at Stanford). My office designed his house. He has an extremely large server room.
We also designed the house for the VP of Apple. I never formally met him, but I’ve been in his house a few times when it was under construction. I guess these guys would be considered celebrities in certain circles.

When I was a freshman in college before he was really popular John Mayer performed there. I think only like 600 people attended the concert. We actually talked to him for a little while. It was while he was still hot and not a jerk.

Also can I just say I haven’t been as happy for a weekend as I am today in a while.

and if there are any marine scientists out there i met sylvia earle a few years ago. she’s just as smart and awesome as she seems. unfortunately i was in the middle of battling a three month bout of bronchitis so i just kind of stood there and coughed while she talked to my coworkers and i. still really awesome though!

Right when Super Troopers came out, the entire Broken Lizard Troupe came to my college and had a viewing of the movie. Not that many people went to the event because it was before they got any bit famous from that movie. They were really funny, obviously.

Hmm..I accidentally gave Gavin Rossdale tea with sour milk when I managed a coffeehouse at the US Open in NY. He was very nice about it.
-Opened a Heineken for Steve Carell at a catering job in the city. We exchanged smiles.
-Ate in a diner near Rockefeller Center with Diane Lane & Josh Brolin sitting across from me with their kids.
-Walked past Woody Allen and his wife/daughter a few years back on Madison Avenue.

This thread got me excited into delurking again — I had a celeb sighting yesterday! Scott Adsit, who I like to just call Pete from 30 Rock, walked right by me and my friends in Greenwich Village last night. So of course I was all, “That’s Pete from 30 Rock!” After he was gone, everyone made fun of me because he clearly had to’ve heard me, and right after I finished 1) complaining that I’d already SEEN Scott Adsit before, in Union Square, 2) obnoxiously blurting out that he probably doesn’t mind getting recognized sometimes because “it’s not like he’s Tina Fey” and then 3) riffing even more obnoxiously on meaner things someone could say along those lines, such as “It’s not like you’re Kenneth from 30 Rock,” ** of course he walks by again in the other direction since he’d only gone to pick up pizza. I felt deservedly embarrassed and tacky!

**That’s not even true – seeing Pete is totally as cool as seeing Kenneth – I just thought it was funny to think of even more obnoxious things I could have said than “It’s not like he’s Tina Fey.”

Anyway, so yeah. Now I’ve had something like six celebrity/celebrity-ish sightings in New York, but three of them were Scott Adsit! He’s really cute in person. My other three were Mary-Louise Parker, who I saw in Washington Sqaure, and then Michael Shannon and Jake Gyllenhaal, who both happened to be eating (separately, although they chatted for awhile) at the same restaurant as me on the same night. Jake Gyllenhaal is like, extraordinarily gorgeous in real life. He’s got cheekbones like glass!

Well, not very many celebrities come to Cleveland (unless they’re filming The Avengers) but I did speak on the phone with Julia Stiles once for about 10 min at work. She called to file a claim for a scratch on her rental car and I was starstruck. I was also shocked that she files her own claims instead of having her assistant do it for her.

Weird now that I think about it, I’ve seen 3 celebrities in person in the last year, and I live an hour outside Cleveland, in the boonies. I saw Michael Shannon filming Take Shelter (which I LOVED), and Danny Devito and Ria Perlman eating brunch at my fav local restaurant. They all seemed….very ordinary. Not in a bad way, it’s just you always hear how ungodly gorgeous celebs are in person – and all three of them looked and dressed in a way that wouldn’t make them stand out at all.

I saw Devon Sawa (Teenbeat anyone?) a month or so ago coming out of my subway station. My 12-year old self was so smitten with him during his Casper days but he’s looking quite haggard now.

I’ve also seen Rachel McAdams quite a few times since I moved to this neighbourhood, she has a house somewhere around here that she stays in whenever she’s in Toronto. She’s always so friendly and put together!

Moneypenny might be the only ones that will appreciate these but I’ve also met Rem Koolhaus and Daniel Libeskind (architects).

Ok, my 11 year old self is so jealous you saw Devon Sawa as I loveloveloved him after watching Casper. Between him and JTT…
My adult self is really impressed that you’ve met Rem Koolhaas and Daniel Libeskind. Where did this happen?? That’s so cool! Bernard Tschumi lectured at my college a couple of years ago, and I met him when he autographed my copy of his book! Ooh, and last year Charles Renfro (from Diller Scofidio and Renfro) came to my office because he was considering us to be the local architect for a new building at Stanford. We didn’t get the job though. (We had fancy coffee in the office that day.)

Ohhh Charles Renfro! Jealous! Our office would never get considered for something like that haha.

Libeskind I saw on the street by chance. He did the reno of the Royal Ontario Museum here and while it was under construction some friends and I walked by and he must have been in town for a site visit and was on the street checking it out with a hard hat on. We said hi and chatted briefly but he seemed really annoyed haha.
Rem I met because one of my good friends is doing her Masters at Cornell. When she was still considering where to accept we roadtripped to Ithaca for the open house and they had Rem there for their honourary guest. He was very friendly. And we took hor d’oeuvres from the same tray, whoa!

“John” (a producer) is a close relative who is also a very good friend…Anyway, since I was an older teenager he has frequently taken me as his plus one to events so I have seen a lot of celebrities…However, my favorite moment was when Alexander Skarsgard literally knocked into me when we both were walking in a hallway towards the restrooms…Internally, I was like “OMG, it’s Eric from True Blood and his body just touched my body,”…In reality, I just turned kind of red while he apologized…I think what’s funny is that when “John” and his buddies occasionally gossip about actors/actresses/directors/etc., it’s often the ones who the public does not care for that much that are actually the nicest of the lot. For example, they love Gwyneth Paltrow and Kristen Stewart….Both are apparently kind, friendly, recognize the hard work the crew puts in, professional on set, and work their asses off…On the other hand, they really can’t stand Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz

Why not…One of his friends worked on Country Strong (a film Gwyneth Paltrow did that pretty much bombed). She was very nice, not bitchy at all, and struck up a conversation/ joked around a few times with members of the crew…She may come off as entitled, but I think it’s interesting that the tabloids have this narrative of her being this icy-cold bitch when his friend had a good experience and they have also heard of other people saying nice things about her…She apparently has kind of a twisted sense of humor.

That’s interesting. I can’t stand Gwyneth Paltrow, Kristen Stewart or Scarlett Johanssen. They give off this vibe that they’re completely entitled and just really b*tchy, but maybe they’re not. Maybe it’s the media portrayal? I remember being pretty miffed about how they labeled Gwyneth a “9/11 hero” because some woman claimed that GP saved her life because she almost hit her with her car, which led to the woman being late for work. That’s awesome an all, but it doesn’t make GP a hero. She didn’t go into the buildings and lead people out. Humph 🙁 One of the guys on my high school track team lost his dad who was a NYC Fire Chief, because he went to the site and tried to actively rescue people. HE was a hero.

Kristen Stewart isn’t a great actress, and probably should smile a lot more if she doesn’t want to be seen as an ice queen…

I heard from someone that ScarJo (which she hates being called, so I’m gonna call her that) is someone who thinks she’s better than everyone else…and that she was really awful to Ryan Reynolds, which is completely unforgivable in my book! If I had room, he’d be on my list, because he’s gorgeous AND hysterical!

I have a friend who’s a PA, and I can’t resist asking for gossip =) Apparently, Philip Seymour Hoffman is into ladies of the evening and blow (but nice), Alexander Skarsgard is super nice (and hugs PAs upon request), and Oliver Stone is a bear to work for (as in you get an “I survived working with OS” t-shirt at the end of a job).

Ha, I have to tell them about Phillip Seymour Hoffman and see if they have any stories…Love it…He looks like such a teddy bear…That kind of proves the point that appearances/public perception can be deceiving…Speaking of blow, apparently Julia Roberts was really into it until the early to mid nineties according to one of “John’s” friends…She’s like the least likely person I would ever think of being into blow either

Ok, Calle, I need lots more information from you! Just pick an awards event that you attended, anyone, and go from there…. Pretty please? In return, I’ll… tell you about… well, I don’t had a lot of knowledge, so I’m at a loss.

In my opinion, nothing really juicy happens at the awards shows, after parties, and charity events…Granted, “John’s” friends are mostly behind the scenes type of people so those are the people I interact with…People basically network and just socialize with each other… I have a ton of fun people watching though and enjoy the fashion porn….”John” finds the awards shows boring, which is why he likes to have a friend accompany him…I guess they (celebs) are aware of the media presence at those types of events…As far as my own personal experiences, Tilda Swinton was two tables over from ours at the last Golden Globes, and I stared at her like a total creeper…She really likes her wine…George Clooney is acquainted with a friend of “John’s”, so when we were all standing around talking he came over to say hi to the guy…Again, I stared like a creeper…George is shorter than you would think…I am 5’10 and was wearing short heels and he was at least four inches shorter than me…He’s maybe 5’9 at the most….That was the biggest celeb encounter I’ve had…”John” and his friends have more juicy stuff from their various experiences on sets, private parties, and dealing with studios.

Eh, he was damn sexy and he’s old enough to be my Dad. “John’s” friend just knows him professionally and even then not that well, but he really likes him. Even though he came over just to talk to “John’s” friend, he shook our hands and introduced himself before stealing “John’s” friend for a few minutes so that was really awesome. Defn. my biggest encounter with a celeb. It was a two second encounter, but he definitely has charisma in spades. Can’t really explain it, just his voice, looks, and the way he looks at people…You get why he is a “movie star.”

Yeah, it was pretty surreal. In my head, I was like “OMG everyone knows who you are.” I guess that is kind of why everyone likes him so much…He comes across as humble and the whole super charismatic thing. Then again, if famous people want to have good manners they do have to introduce themselves…Otherwise, jumping into a conversation and grabbing “John’s” friend for a moment would have been kind of rude.

The George Clooney encounter was at the after party, and his gf was hanging off his arm when he chatted briefly to “John’s” friend. I kind of felt sorry for her, she seemed to just stand there and look pretty.

I haven’t seen many celebrities other than local ones. When I worked in retail, I helped a couple of local TV news broadcasters a couple of times.

I met Jared Leto once, almost ten years ago (wow typing that makes me feel old), signing autographs after a concert with his crappy band. He was not very cool, despite what he seemed to think.

I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger once from a distance. He was shorter than expected, and very orange from too much tanning bed time.

The only ones I’ve gotten embarrassingly excited over were when I’ve met pro mountain bikers. I met Steve Peat once- I was at a tradeshow and talking with a guy who worked for one of his sponsors. I commented on the ad featuring Peaty at the same time he walked up behind me. The guy I was talking to gestured in his direction, I turned around, and there he was, smiling at me. I got a little flustered and asked him if he would autograph the poster I was carrying around with his picture on it. I felt like a total dork. At least I was dressed cute that day.

I almost met Willow Rockwell that same day at the same tradeshow. I spotted her and really wanted to say hi and ask for her autograph, but I was too embarrassed, so I just followed her around for a few minutes in the crowds instead.

Back in the day I used to assist and colorist at a salon in Union Square in SF and I washed former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hair. There was also a Julia Child sighting (she was extremely tall), Joe and Jennifer Montana, and my favorite, Brian Boitano. I spoke to Gloria Vanderbilt on the phone briefly.

I saw John Travolta and Michael Ontkean (the former sheriff on Twin Peaks) on Union St. I saw Nicholas Cage on Haight St. I’ve seen Don Johnson filming scenes for Nash Bridges on the Embarcadero. I shared an elevator with Clarence Clemons (he was extremely tall and large and very friendly).

Before I left to study abroad in England, I joked with friends and family that I would be hanging out with the royals. Lo and behold, one day I am walking through campus and Prince Charles pops by the university for a visit! He was really nice and is much better looking in real life.

I saw all the members of Backstreet Boys except for Nick at a movie theatre near New Orleans.

I served AJs date a cookie. I got to talk to Kevin and Howie. I made Howie say my name. Kevin was very tall. I was 17 and star struck. Brian was the cutest but honestly, they all looked exactly like they did on TV! I lost their autographs.

Met Trent Rezner of Nine Inch Nails. He ordered a medium popcorn.

Met Al Copland many times. He owns Popeye’s….maybe it’s only a New Orleans thing.

Met the actor that plays Nick on The Young and the Restless at an autograph session at Sears. His name is Joshua Morrow.

Met the lead singer of the band Better Than Ezra….again, maybe a New Orleans thing.

I was once at a strip club where a friend worked and so he invited me and my friends up to one of the private rooms where rapper Lil John was having a party. Lil John was wondering around with a bottle of vodka in his hand pouring shots into all the strippers mouth’s. He came over to me motioned for me to stand up so he could pour me a shot as well. He even took a moment to wipe the splash that missed my mouth off my cheek. It was an oddly funny yet sort of sweet moment.
I also sat next to Spike Lee on a flight and he was not happy, as he had missed his original flight so was stuck in coach and I believe that before the flight took off he had his driver fired for making him miss his original flight.

Years ago, my best friend’s son went to school with this rather odd duck who had his own show on the Disney Channel. I met “X” at a variety of backyard bbq’s and what not. He was always around and just some buddy of my friend’s 16 year old son.

Flashforward to the son’s 18th birthday. My friend allowed her son to have a “wild” party. Alcohol was to be expected and she needed somebody to guard the door so nobody would leave the premises — that was the deal. No leaving once you had even one sip. Anyway, my friend had an emergency and roped me into to chaperon this affair.

It was uneventful for the longest time. I sat on a sofa alone in the front room reading magazines. The kids were getting buzzed, but nobody was out of control. And then suddenly, “X” wandered into the room stark naked. Totally naked. And seemingly oblivious to the fact. He proceeded to say “Mark! Hey, what’s up!” And sit down on the couch next to me. Now there was noting sexual about any of this. He was just… naked. But it was like he forgot he was. And we proceded to have this very long conversation about music as if it were the most normal thing in the world… I began to get paranoid though! What would my friend’s son think? Would he think I was this total 30something perv who was trying to take advantage of the situation… But nobody batted an eye. Apparently, X did this sort of thing all the time. He liked being naked, I guess.

Again, there was nothing sexual about this. I can’t stress this enough. That’s what made it all so odd. I was just like, confused by it all.

Long story short — “X” is now HUGELY famous. He’s also wayyyyyy hotter than he was all those years ago. He’s been on the cover of GQ and a million others — and of course was the star of many a blockbuster. He now carries huge, huge films…. But seeing any of those movies is all too strange and distracting now… All I can ever think while watching is that, yeah, I saw that naked and chatted with that naked for like two whole hours…

Is it weird that I find him attractive? I don’t really like admitting that, but I really, really do. He seems like a douche – once he blabbed that he’d boinked Megan Fox, I wanted not to find him hot anymore. And yet…

Man, I’m all jealous now… 🙂 I’ve just seen Joe Mauer going into practice when I drove past the Metrodome one day. I feel like you usually have to be strategic about it in MN, but then again I’ve only been in the Cities a little while.

Saw lots of celebs when I lived in London in the early 1990s. Princess Diana once when I was jogging in Kensington Gardens, opposite the palace…Bryan Ferry by the river Thames during a photo shoot… Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) in Victoria Station… I’m sure there are more, but I can’t remember them all, since it was so long ago!

And I grew up in L.A., so star sightings were a dime a dozen. I went to school with the kids of celebs, so during school plays or sports events you’d see the likes of Rod Stewart, Jermaine Jackson, and Quincy Jones. Then there were the supermarket sightings (why do I always see celebs in supermarkets?): Martin Sheen, Tony Danza, Mark Harmon. Recently I lived near CBS Studios and the Starbucks down the street was a magnet for celebs on their coffee break from filming. I saw Jon Cryer and Hayden Panettiere, among many others.

Then there were the random sightings in shops and restaurants: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Shirley MacLaine, Barbara Eden, Cher… oh, and my grandfather was a member of this country club where I saw George Burns, Sidney Poitier, Sean Connery and Kirk Douglas.

And yes, celebs are always WAAAAY shorter than you imagine them to be. Even Ah-nold.

I was Assistant Director of a literary festival, so I got to meet some pretty famous authors (although mostly Canadians). Among them : David Gilmour, Lawrence Hill, Laura Calder (Food network star)….

I’ve also run into George Strombolopoulos (former Much Music VJ, and now CBC talk show host. OH and speaking of CBC, I also got to meet Jian Ghomeshi, host of Q, a radio show (It also broadcasts on NPR).

aw man you guys are all so cool!! ive met yanni (yep, the cheesey concert guy). a friend of my parents was the exec chef for his tour that year. it was actually pretty neat- we got to go early to the concert place and we actually had dinner with the whole orchestra and all the backup singers and stuff. he doesnt eat with them, so i met him as he was leaving the place and going to his tour bus after the concert. then, one time when my friends and I were probably lost in NYC we *think* we saw rachel dratch from SNL. and…. yep thats all i got. lame!!

My WEIRD (and now estranged) Uncle brought me to a Yanni concert when I was a kid. Like a small child (maybe 7 or 8). I am not sure why on God’s green earth he thought a little kid would enjoy that. I have never met someone who had less of an idea what kids like than he did…
LOL, your post just took me on a strange stroll down memory lane.

Sadly enough, my only celeb sighting was Pauly Shore. My friend worked at the Starbucks in Ybor City and one night I stopped in to visit and he came in. He tried to pay with a hundred dollar bill and the guy at the register informed him that they did not have change for that. Shore said “Do you know who I am??” and the guy said “Yeah…not sure I’d admit that.” Hilarious!

My favorite celeb sighting was when I was studying abroad in Mexico City a few years ago and was eating in a nice restaurant with 20 other college kids and saw Ryan Gosling eating with Rachel McAdams eating a few tables away. I felt so bad because they were obviously trying to stay under the radar, and this was a nice place in a foreign country – not where you would expect a big group of American college kids. AND we had just seen The Family Stone on the airplane flight over! Too weird.

I just remember she looked STUNNING – super cute sundress and makeup. He looked like he just rolled out of bed with a grimy t-shirt and hat on. Still gorgeous though 🙂

We all finished eating before them and had to file out right next to their table to leave. We all avoided eye contact except ONE obnoxious girl who asked for a picture. Rachel was sweet and said no, thanks, they were on vacation. She handled it really well 🙂

A few years ago, during TIFF my friend and I were working and we saw Jude Law walk by. He has a huge swagger and he kind of looked like a bobble head when he walked by. So of course a few minutes later my friend and I were imitating him, when we turned around and he was standing right behind us staring at us… awkward.

The same day I almost ran down Michael Caine with a cooler full of bottled water.

I sat next to David Schwimmer at a Chicago Bulls game in the Friends hayday. I felt so bad for him because fans kept coming up to him the whole game as he was 2 seats from the aisle. I don’t think he got to watch more than 2 minutes.

While working as a bartender in Chicago, I got to wait on Chris Farley (so nice), Dennis Rodman (great tipper!), Mark Grace (Chicago Cubs) and Frank Thomas (Chicago White Sox). Frank was always with a different woman who was never his wife. Robert Downey Jr. came in with the lead singer of the band Ministry (can’t remember his name) It was during his drugged out period and I would bet money that they were on something they were acting so strange. Really bloodshot eyes as well. So glad that he got his act together.

My friends had the most awesome celeb sighting ever – I wasn’t there but they are my closest friends so this counts: My friends were out at a bar in Kansas City when January Jones and Jason Sudeikis (I love him) walked in. He is from KC and so had brought January home for a KU game (barf) and to see his home town. But the kicker is, my friends didn’t just SEE them at the bar, they partied with them at the bar all night! I kept getting tips like: “Jason just bought my beer” and “out having a cig with Jan” — they were torturing me all night. They said Jason looks normal, is really funny. They said January looked really plain (I was shocked – she is GORGEOUS on Mad Men, I think) but was super, duper tiny.

I saw several celebs while living in Austin. Chris Cornell with I’m guessing Velvet Revolver at a restaurant, Kevin Spacey while he was filming at UT.

The funniest siting was at a popular Tex-Mex place. I said to my husband, “That guy looks like a uglier and fatter version of Quintin Terentino… Actually I think IT is him”. My husband disagreed with me until Quintin got up to go to the bathroom. He was tall and also incredibly ungainly. After seeing him lurching past us, my husband had to agree that it was him.

Aw, that’s disappointing about the pale part. Although one of the upsides to being freaky-tall is that you realize a guy your own height or shorter is hardly the end of the world. I mean, it’s a nice added bonus, the same way it is if he’s really wealthy or has a really cool house, but it’s definitely not on my checklist of must-haves. Actually, the only thing I find offensive at all is when I hear a woman going “OMG! I couldn’t POSSIBLY date a short man! Taller men make me feel soooooo feminine!” because without meaning to, they’re implying that by being tall and in having difficulty finding taller men, I’m somehow less of a woman.

I’m on the tall side for a girl, and a guy’s height is like a SAT scores. A high score is perffered, but dosn’t guarantee admission. A short or shorter guy can be accepted if he has other things going for him. 🙂

Ok, this lurker is going to de-lurk and throw down her offering. Years ago, when I worked for the Denver Hilton, I checked Vincent Price into his room. It was right about the time that Michael Jackson’s Thriller album came out – which VP had the cameo vocal on, so I knew who he was but didn’t clue in when he showed up right in front of me late at night without a reservation. He was rather cheap and wanted the best room we had for the lowest price we offered – I compromised. This is the same job where I was propositioned over the phone by Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac. Not a big buzz, since he was probably drunk and lonely up in his room and didn’t know me from Adam……

I hung out with Vanilla Ice before he performed at my university back in 2004. It was a few months before the Bush-Kerry election, and he kept going on and on about how he supports Pres. Bush and the War on Terror, etc. Was just very strange because I never expected Vanilla Ice to be a hard-core Republican! Also, he wrote “WTYM” (Word to Your Mother) on my hat.

– John Lovitz after a play in New York. He was hilarious and seemed very down to earth in a totally bizarre way. He stopped two little girls walking with their parents and had an entire conversation with them and just enjoyed the hell out of being funny, friendly stranger rather than John Lovitz.

– Mario Lopez. He’s way hotter in real life than on tv. He was hanging out with a friend (apparently a football player in Houston? I know nothing about sports) and the guy’s kids were hanging on him like a jungle gym. It was really sweet.

– Matthew Broderick in a Starbucks in Manhattan when I was on a trip in high school. He looked really unhappy – I think this was just before he got busted in all the tabloids for having an affair.

– Bill Clinton. Yeah, he’s totally magnetic. He was campaigning in the little East Texas town we were living in back then.

– Bush, Sr. and Mrs. Bush. Now that they’re out of power, they’re completely adorable and charming. She doesn’t know where she is half the time, but she’s thrilled out of her mind to be there.

I live just outside DC, so I’ve had the “Obama drive-by” experience. I’ve also seen him speak twice- once as an audience member when spoke just before his health care legislation was passed at the university where I worked, and once he did a smaller event after he was elected but before he was inaugurated in the actual venue where I worked. I didn’t have a legitimate reason to be backstage once he arrived, so I watched from the sound board and didn’t get to meet him. My coworkers who did meet him though were incredibly impressed- he signed books and made the rounds introducing himself to everyone.

I saw both Bill and Hilary Clinton speak (separately) at campaign events during the 2008 primaries. I also stage managed an event where Newt Gingrich was a speaker. I don’t agree with a word the man says politically, but he wasn’t an ass to work with (that surprised me lol). We also had a “Hardball College Tour” shoot in our hall, which meant I saw Chris Matthews, as well as guests Robert DeNiro and Matt Damon (!) from a distance. Matt Damon seemed nice, Chris Matthews was really unpretentious and drove himself. Robert DeNiro arrived late which held up the whole shoot.

In terms of traditional celebrity sightings, I’ve had four. Pauly Shore was eating at the Hard Rock Cafe in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore when I was there with friends, and he was a jerk who expected an entire section of the crowded restaurant to be cleared so his group could dine privately. Carrot Top was in the Orlando airport when we were catching a flight. A girl who ended up on our flight was in a wheelchair, and when he saw her struggling he wheeled her to our gate before continuing to his own- so obviously a nice guy, and also bizarrely buff in person! Dale Earnheart Jr. came through my line when I was working retail in high school. I would have had no idea who he was, except that the girl I was working with saw him and freaked out running around the store to look for him- so when he got to the front mine was the only line available. He accidentally got the edited version of a CD he was buying, so I asked if he meant to get the unedited version and his handler looked irritated with me, but he sent her back to get the right one. Finally, I was seeing a play in London that Patrick Stewart turned out to be attending with his family.

There are some great encounters on here! I used to live in Manhattan and worked for Warner Bros. and Putnam-Berkley, so I’ve had a few.

–In my one incident of good timing, I passed Pierce Brosnan (wearing a tux! rrrreeggllle) on the street; it was the opening night of Goldeneye. And I was dressed for the opera! Alas, I didn’t get a second glance, even if I totally craned him.

–Dave Barry. He’s just adorable.

–Amy Tan. Her editor’s office was right next to my cubicle. Amy would come in with her little, skittish Yorkshire terrier, which she’d let run around the floor while she was in a meeting. I love dogs, but this one, oy. The dog would submissively pee in your cube if you looked at her wrong.

–Ed McMahon. I delivered a calculator to his hotel room (weird, I know). SO nice. His wife, not so much.

–Clint Black. Tipped his hat at me on the street when he caught me looking. Super cute.

–James Carville. I work in DC, and I once saw Carville jogging around the Capitol. He’s a (mentally) sharp guy, but not even that handsome when cleaned up. He’s downright scary when red and sweaty.

–Hugh Grant. He was filming a scene from Extreme Measures about four blocks from my apartment in NYC.

–Conan O’Brien. My husband and I saw him walking past FAO Schwartz in Manhattan. Even taller in real life than on TV.

There’s more, but I need to get to work. Thanks for the excuse to wander down memory lane. 🙂

I am normally a lurker, but this is such a fun thread! It’s Monday morning I have not done one thing related to work-ha!

I met Alec Baldwin when I was in high school (like 12 years ago), he stayed at my friend’s B&B, so I just happened to be there when he was. Very cool, signed autograph for us.

My company has great seats to the Red Sox and one game my sister and I were sitting there, making fun of this chick wear a dress to a baseball game. She turns around, it is Christie Brinkley. Whoops! Seriously gorgeous, and doesn’t look like most celebs her age who have all the plastic surgery. Rob Lowe was at a game too one time, he was sitting kind of behind me, but I still stared. A little too tan, but hot!! Honestly, I felt bad for them being at the game, people kept bugging them, I am sure they wanted just to watch the game.

I have worked with a number of famous people through the theatre, but won’t name them cause that could track back to my real name…

In terms of on-the-street sightings, I’m pretty bad at them because I’m neither in tune to who is famous, nor am I good at recognizing people. But here’s my list:

Living in Cambridge, MA I ran into John Malkovich twice. The first time I nearly embarrassed myself because I nearly walked up to him: recognized his face, and thought he must be an actor I’d worked with in the past. Stopped myself just in time, which is good, because I understand he does not appreciate that.

In college:
Saw Brendan Fraiser as he stumped for Hilary Clinton. And of course, Hilary and Chelsea were both there.

In NYC:
-Shared an elevator with Sarah Jessica Parker, who is actually shorter than me.
-Exchanged nods with Kristen Johnston of 3rd Rock from the Sun as she was attending a show I worked on (same show that brought SJP to it).
-Passed Macaulay Culkin at an opening night.
-Apparently was examining doorknobs next to Brooke Shields and her kids, but I didn’t spot her (I was looking at the door knobs). My friend went nuts.
-Met and chatted with Peter Dinklage hanging out at a bar a few times right when he was starting to get well-known for his stage work.
-Was going to be introduced to Neil Patrick Harris at a party around the same time. Before anyone could introduce us, he noticed a new face in the group and stuck out his hand and said “Hi. I’m Neil.” My had-a-huge-crush-on-Doogie-as-a-nine-year-old head nearly exploded at his sweetness.

I met M. Night Shyamalan a few times. He always shoots his movies outside of Philadelphia, and through my old job, I have had the awesome opportunity to attend the local premieres of his last few movies.

His wife is the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She’s stunning. She’s also incredibly nice.